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Today in History: Olympus CEO ousted after exposing massive financial scandal

By Drooid · Oct 14, 2026, 10:33 AM UTC · How we work

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Summary

Story summary

On 14 October 2011, British-born Michael Woodford was abruptly removed as Olympus’s chief executive after he revealed a multi-billion-yen accounting fraud that had concealed losses for years. Chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa reclaimed the CEO title, and the case sparked intense scrutiny of Japan’s corporate-governance practices.

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Story summary

On 14 October 2011, British-born Michael Woodford was abruptly removed as Olympus’s chief executive after he revealed a multi-billion-yen accounting fraud that had concealed losses for years. Chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa reclaimed the CEO title, and the case sparked intense scrutiny of Japan’s corporate-governance practices.